Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee compared same sex marriage to a Jew serving bacon. Photo: CNN.

Likely Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said on Sunday that expecting Christians to accept same-sex marriage is “like asking someone who’s Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli.”

“We don’t want to do that,” he continued, during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union. “I mean, we’re not going to do that. Or like asking a Muslim to serve up something that is offensive to him, or to have dogs in his backyard. We’re so sensitive to make sure we don’t offend certain religions, but then we act like Christians can’t have the convictions that they’ve had for 2,000 years.”

The former Arkansas governor made the comments in defense of an excerpt from his new book God, Guns, Grits and Gravy,  in which he says he has friends and associates who are gay. Huckabee called homosexuality a “lifestyle” choice, as is drinking alcohol and using profanities. He told CNN’s Dana Bash that he remains friends with people who “have lifestyles that are not necessarily my lifestyle.”

“I don’t shut people out of my circle or out of my life because they have a different point of view,” he said. “I don’t drink alcohol, but gosh — a lot of my friends, maybe most of them, do. You know, I don’t use profanity, but believe me, I’ve got a lot of friends who do. Some people really like classical music and ballet and opera — it’s not my cup of tea.”

Huckabee explained there is no chance he will ever support gay marriage, saying it was not just a political issue but also a biblical one.

“And as a biblical issue — unless I get a new version of the scriptures, it’s really not my place to say, OK, I’m just going to evolve,” he said.